Synopsis: This morning, Nate Hoffelder has reported on his blog The Digital Reader (link below) that the first illegal copy of one of the new Pottermore DRM free Harry Potter ebooks has appeared on the web.

One born every minute:

STUPID AND FAILED PIRATE

It seems that the form of anti-copying protection that Pottermore have chosen to use is in the form of a number of small files concealed in the body of the ebook, which gives details of the person who purchased the particular copy of the ebook. This is great for honest readers, as it enables one to move the ebook from one device to any other freely, so effectively bringing ebooks into the realm of ordinary paper books finally.

But obviously it also makes it very easy (one might think) to copy and sell online , which is what this individual has apparently done.

But as Nate has pointed out, the software in the ebook he has placed online to sell, has this secret sting in its tail, enabling the Pottermore folk to identify him easily. So no doubt an army of lawyers is already on their way to the guy’s house to impound all his worldly possessions, up to and including his wife and children, for his temerity in offering to sell people copies of his Pottermore ebook.

I will be very interested to hear how this story plays out, since the approach to ebook piracy that Pottermore have chosen is so much better from the point of view of us, the readers, than the dreadful Adobe DRM system that we have all had to deal with since the start of ebooks.

To be able to freely move our ebooks from device to device, lend them to friends and family, and generally have a much easier time of it when dealing with our ebooks is such a wonderful idea that I truly hope this particular idiot’s fate is widely publicized, in order to discourage other’s from imitating him, and thus giving more fuel to publishers who insist that the old system of protecting against piracy is the only one to use – in spite of the fact that it has been shown over and over and over again not to work either.